


Quite A Catch

by AugustPendragon



Category: Original Work
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Age Difference, Animal Instincts, Blood, Cunnilingus, Double Penetration, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, First Time, Hermaphrodites, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Merpeople, Mpreg, Original Universe, Other, Oviposition, Predator/Prey, Protectiveness, Sexual Inexperience, Sharks, Sibling Rivalry, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:34:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23777695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AugustPendragon/pseuds/AugustPendragon
Summary: The shining young lionfish had never imagined that when a shark appeared in his life, it would be to save it.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternative to "Hooked," featuring an encounter with a different sort of sea creature!

So this is how he would end.

Not eaten, by denizens of water or earth or air, but tangled up and forgotten in debris until his bones became just another piece of rot. The storm had roiled the waves so, and he'd been swept close to shore, blinded by sand and slammed into a discarded net.  
That was where he was now. Where he had been for two days. Hooks tangled in his flesh, unyielding, raw red lines worn into fraying skin and scale, rolling in the gentle wave of the surf along the beach bottom.

Just let me die.

It was his last wish, after two days of wishing for freedom had passed unheeded, and it was the one that was answered.  
There was a flash of movement above, and he looked up through tired eyes to see the silhouette of a great beast. It was his twice his size and the brilliant white of an impassive moon. It had smelled the blood. It was coming.

He shrunk down against the sand. Really? He had wished for death, but in truth, he was already destined to die, either starved or broken down by the infection of his wounds. Either way, it would be a slow and painful death, so what he really had wished for was a swifter death. The thing would tear him to shreds, and he would die as he was eaten alive. A swifter death indeed, but must all his choices be so horrible? Even huddled and tangled down as he was, he was sure the thing had seen him, his scales a shining silver that glinted in what little sunlight trickled down to him. And even if the damn thing was blind, it had been the scent of his blood that had probably attracted it first. He gritted his teeth and, with effort, raised his spiked fins, ready to kill the one that would try to kill him first. He wanted to die, but definitely not like this, and definitely not without a fight.  
The shark drifted down with the inevitability of death. The motions were slow at first--this prey could not swim--but as it drew close enough to see him clearly it swooped down with more force. Did knowing the meal was still alive excite him?  
Alphonse flared his grills harder, as best he could against the bindings, and let out a bubbling hiss. If he had been free the killer would have to think twice about risking his spines, but now he could just pick him apart from the back. Or wait. Either option was safe and satisfying.  
The shark hovered just out of touch, thinking, and then opened a mouth filled with three rows of teeth--  
"I'm not going to hurt you. I'll try to get you out, if you let me."  
Another bubbling hiss, Alphonse baring his own, lesser fangs.  
"Stay away. I'm not desperate or stupid enough to trust a shark." He'd flared up and made himself as big as he could under the weight of the net, and still he wasn't nearly as big as the beast that had laid eyes on him. It mattered little. He'd either be lunch or dinner for the bastard.  
…And perhaps it'd be better for him if it happened sooner than later. He shuddered and closed his eyes very briefly, then opened them again. The fierceness in his gaze did not match the words that left his lips.  
"…But you will get what you came for in the end, so at least… make it quick." The poisonous darts were rearranged then, moving to best cover the rest of his body as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, baring a soft, pale neck to the beast.  
And the bastard looked sorry! Not for pity but for the lack of a screaming meal. Alphonse caught a glimpse between closed lids and regretted. Maybe he should just fight, maybe it was better than waiting for the thing to figure out a way to more savagely kill, maybe--  
Alphonse froze as lips pressed to his neck. For a moment there was nothing but the pulse of his heart. And then slowly the shark's mouth dropped from his skin to the first cord of rope, the braid snapping away from Alphonse's skin as it was bit in two.  
His heart was beating fast against his chest, gills flaring rapidly. Eyes that had once been closed shut stared wide at him. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to stab the bastard, and yet he remained tense and still. What was he doing? Was he letting him go? Why? Did he want to chase after him? To have the thrill of the hunt and make him scream in pain as he tore him apart? Well, even if he did, once he was free, he would at least have a chance to fight, a chance to live. The shark moved to another braid, and then another, until all of those before him were gone, leaving only the ones around him and on his back. The ones tangled with his spikes. The shark paused then, looked tentatively up at him and…Alphonse set the spikes away, a sign that he would not attack while the other helped him. Grey eyes remained fixed on him, following his every move.  
The shark seemed a little hesitant now, as well he should. Alphonse's breed was at times even more dangerous than his own. Yet still the other moved forward, beginning to saw away the bindings entrapping his body.  
A single whip of his fin and the shark would die. He'd released over half the ropes now; it might be enough for Alphonse to finish the rest on his own. Life was again a possibility.  
And yet he didn't move. He lay still until the shark had removed every last shred of netting from his tattered body and moved back, wiping stray fibers from between his teeth.  
"I can get the hooks out too, if you let me."  
There were seven, and they had spelled his doom more than the net alone. The metal was skewered deep into his skin, the result of several desperate escape attempts and the initial thrashing of the waves.  
He ought to have flared them, spikes poised outwards as he swam away, found a crevice where the other couldn't get to him without swimming head first into his poison. And yet he remained still and tense, alert to the other's movement. After a moment of quietness, he nodded stiffly.  
The shark was less reluctant than he was, and on gaining permission he shifted closer, attention fixed on the first. One hand settled on the flesh of the boy's side, where gold and silver and white met in a shining ripple, bracing him against the sand as his other hand reached for the hook. Fresh blood and old caked around where the barbs had set in, stirring red smoke in the water.  
"On five. Five, four--"  
He did it then, before the boy could tense, twisting the metal out and clapping a handful of sand to the bloody exit it left.  
The boy yelped and jerked, and the poisonous barbs that surrounded him barely missed him then as they flared all around him.  
"What the--you said five!" He hissed, a frilly mess of gold, silver, white and red.  
"It would've done more damage if you were fully tensed. My mother used to pull that on me quite often."  
The shark gave him a quiet smile even as he hovered a respectful distance away, sand still clutched in his webbed fingers.  
"May I continue?"  
Another silent glare, but... He'd managed to move--really move for the first time in two days, and despite the ache all over his body, it felt great to finally be free. Slowly, uncertainly, he settled back down against the sand as a sign of approval.  
The shark returned to him with an attentiveness that reminded Alphonse of the little cleaner fish. The sand was returned to his wound, held there for a second until it clotted, and then the man proceeded with the other hooks. It was not a pleasant process, and Alphonse's body convulsed more than once as the deeper barbs were removed. But then, at last, he was free.  
The shark moved back, giving the boy's hurts one more look before speaking.  
"The smell of blood will attract others. I know a safe place you can hide and recover, if you'll trust me just a little longer."  
With a flicker of his tail, he was off the sand and up in the water, swirling and looping this way and that, an impressive show of energy considering he had not eaten in two days as he laid down, dragged around against the ocean floor. He swirled rapidly around the shark once, then continued more slowly, thin pupils fixed on the predator and spikes out and flaring as if he was the predator himself.  
"...Why are you helping me? If you wanted to eat me, it would have just been easier to do it when I offered my neck."  
"I find more pleasure in helping fish then eating them, but please stop that! You're still bleeding, you'll tear the wounds."  
Still that concern, the shark rising gently after him, tail flicking slow waves against the sand.  
The blond blinked, then outright laughed. A first in a long time.  
"You'd rather help fish than eat them? Please, you didn't grow that size chewing on seaweed. Thank you for the help, whatever the real reason was, but follow me and you're the one who'll need help." Another sharp hiss and with a snap of his tail he was swimming away, drifting deeper into the wide blue sea. He swam rapidly at first, but soon was forced to slow down, his body weakened and pained. How far had he drifted in two days? Surely he couldn't have gone far, there must be a reef he could curl up in and hide until he had somewhat recovered, spikes out and soft sides hidden away. And yet only sand and more blue met his eyes as far as the eye could see, beginning to curl and blur and waver.

He cursed as he began tipping sideways even as he made his best to keep swimming upright.

More sand, more nothing. Was he even moving? His eyes found the impression of his body on the sand. He was going in circles, and above him there was a shadow...

Alphonse jerked awake in a flare of spines, thrashing as he felt netting coiling his fins again--pausing, gills surging, as he found he was twisted up in soft kelp rather than hooked rope. He was resting in a circular nest of the same, more strands looped around his hurts serving as bandages, and coral stone forming a protective tunnel all around him. There was a strong smell in the air, not unpleasant, that seemed to emanate from the seaweed beneath him.  
"Good morning."  
Alphonse puffed and hissed again, only to recognize the voice. The shark from before pulled into view from another branch of the tunnel.  
"Are you hungry? What do your kind eat?"  
He remained riled and puffed up for a moment longer, glaring at the shark with wide eyes before he turned to look at himself very quickly, looking for any bitten off pieces or removed spikes, but finding nothing other than bandages on his old wounds. So even when he'd passed out, the man hadn't tried to eat him... again he wondered why. He turned to glare at him once more, suspiciously, eyes slightly more narrowed.  
"Many things.... what do you have in mind?"  
The shark kept a respectful distance as he answered.  
"I have a wide variety of the fruits of the sea. Shall I show you?"  
Alphonse was quiet for a moment, then lifted himself off the nest he'd been occupying, slowly but carefully drifting closer.  
"Show the way, I suppose."  
The shark brightened, a close-mouthed smile that kept his best weapons out of view. With a twist he was away down the tunnel, and Alphonse quietly followed, spines held tensely out.  
He wasn't led into a trap. Rather, he drifted past various trinkets of shell and stone until the beast reached his larder. It was piled with seaweeds of all colors and roots and fruits and leaves and nuts; the bounty of the ocean and the gifts of the land.  
"Help yourself!"  
The smaller fish slowly drifted forward, lowering his spikes as he carefully surveyed the bigger fish's collection. Finally he seemed to find something to his liking, reaching out for a ripe plum and examining it before he turned abruptly around, gills and spikes flaring as he hissed.  
"So is this what it is? Why would a shark keep a bunch of fruit in his house? Because its not your home--it's the home of whoever you ate before isn't it?! And you haven't eaten me yet because you're trying to find out where MY home is!" He hissed sharply, poisonous spikes flaring all around him as he waved the fruit before the shark's face.  
The shark flinched back--yipped as he ran into coral, and began worming desperately down the tunnel before the other fish's advance.  
"N-No! I have them to feed guests--why would I need your home when I have this one? Why would I risk fighting you awake and free if I just wanted to kill you? Be reasonable!"  
"Because--because you are a sick bastard who enjoys living in the homes of his dead victims or something--I don't know! All I know is that sharks eat fish. That you MUST eat fish, so tell me the truth now, why didn't you eat me when you had the chance?"  
The other fish hissed even as he persistently followed him through the tunnels. It would have made a funny sight, the shark running away from a smaller shark, if not for the poisonous spikes lining Alphonse's body.  
The shark continued to duck and weave all along the length of the tunnels until, suddenly, they were in tunnels no longer. Sun flashed above the waters as they emerged into a world of towering kelp, spiraling a hundred feet above their heads to reach bright life.  
The larger shark stopped then, hovering several feet before him.  
"Because I--I don't want to! I don't like killing! You're right--I do eat fish--but only the dying, the sick. I saved you because... because I thought you wouldn't survive. But you did! And I won't hurt you! I swear it!"  
His arms spread, his gills flared, and the determination on his face was honest.  
The smaller fish continued to glare at him for a moment, then finally took a slow bite of the plum in his hand.  
"You are one fucked up shark... but I guess I'll believe you... for now. It's not like you'll be able to finish the job now."  
The shark remained still, chest heaving, for a long moment. But then his fins laid back and his face calmed.  
"You can stay until you heal. Other predators don't come here, so you'll be safe."  
Another slow, deliberate bite of the plum, the fish still glaring, and then finally turned around, swimming back towards the tunnels seemingly without a care. Even if he didn't trust tue shark, it'd be hard for the man to get a bite out of him without running into his spikes in such a cramped space.  
The shark watched before silently gliding back to the tunnels, suddenly more guest than patron. It was a relationship that was going to last.

A week slipped by, Alphonse's wounds beginning to close, his skin and scales shining with health as he rested and ate. The shark he so suspected was his servant, bringing new stores of food from the surrounding forest when they ran low, replacing the boy's bandages when needed. Alphonse responded with nothing but abrupt rudeness. The shark's sharing of his name--Raphael--was met with nothing but a yawn, and any approaches he made unaccompanied by food received a glare and a flash of spines to ward him off. It was a habit that would soon be taken advantage of.  
The beleaguered shark returned to the tunnels one morning with an armful of fruit, and like a brooding suitor Alphonse was there to meet him. He seized a favored piece from the bunch and turned away, settling to the floor to eat--and felt a hand tracing just above the red crust of a wound.  
"You seem to be healing well."  
The smaller fish tensed and arched immediately at that touch, spines spreading in the direction opposite of that touch. A small cry escaped past Alphonse's lips, fruit rolling off his fingers. But it was not a cry of pain. A tense moment of still silence, and then the blond spoke, lowering his head and shuddering even as he hissed.  
"W-what are you doing?"  
Raphael had pulled away at the sound, and he retreated further still now, eyes wide in shock. His gills moved in a slow ripple, uncertain.  
"I was just... checking your wound... are you alright?"  
Suddenly the shark went red from fin tips to face, jerking his arms up close to his body.  
"A-Are you in heat?"  
That was answered with a swift smack to his face from the other's tail, the spines thankfully missing his skin. Alphonse was alright, hissing angrily at him, looking livid even as he blushed an even deeper red than him.  
"Shut up! I am not… in heat or whatever it is you're saying! You stupid shark!" He growled, glaring for only a second longer before he went after his dropped food once more. He settled silently once more against the floor then, back turned away from Raphael. And the shark couldn't help but notice the way his spines were held down and away from him, leaving that soft brilliant flesh exposed while the smaller fish took another nervous bite of his fruit. The only telling signs of what had happened was the soft tinge upon his skin and the soft shivers still coursing through his body now.  
Alphonse's tail thrashed back and forth as he ate, the long fins gracing the walls, gills flaring up with every breath. The other man was silent behind him. Had he--  
Alphonse arched far sharper than before as the other shark moved close to him, on top of him, strong hands caressing both sides of his body now in the place that had drawn his reaction before.  
And his reaction now was much the same. The smaller fish once more tensed and arched, letting out yet another sweet sound as his spines flared away from his touch rather than towards him, making the smaller fish all the more vulnerable to him. Raphael drew closer, hands gliding gently over soft, bright scales, admiring the colorful pattern strewn all over his tail and fins, slowly fading against his skin. And the scent, the same sweet scent that had called him over, even when all his wounds had healed entirely. Alphonse did not move to hit him or struggle free of his touch. Instead, he settled himself all the more firmly against the soft cave floor.  
"W-what are you doing?" Came the same question once more.  
What was he doing? He wasn't entirely sure. Raphael only knew that the boy's smell was intoxicating.  
"You smell better than blood."  
His voice wavered but his hands were steady as they explored that smooth flesh. Alphonse yielded before the pleasure, giving voice, spines flattened to make way for what should have been another of his kind.  
"Can I breed you? P-Please."  
Breed him? What did he mean by that? Did it mean he would touch him more like this? Would it feel just as good? In his life, rarely anyone had dared to get close to him and the poison that adorned him, much less dared touch him. And any who had tried had ended up his dinner.  
Raphael's had moved far from his wounds by now, the feeling of another's skin touching his so softly alien and wonderful. The blond arched and bucked back against the larger shark with a groan.  
"If I don't like it you'll die," the blond hissed as a dangerous invitation to keep touching him in that same wonderful way.  
"You will."  
His lips formed the words into his skin as his hands drifted down, rolling past rosy gills to where the boy's hips began and scales and skin fully became one. A slow press there drew a yet more eager croak from the shuddering boy beneath him.  
Ah... what was he doing?  
Raphael's mind became clear even as his hands continued to knead the soft flesh, his nose and gills momentarily closing, drowning out the intoxication of the mewling beauty below him. What was he doing, indeed? It was the time when sharks bred, too, and he was filled with a need that swelled perplexingly in this youngling's presence. This would not be his first time mating, but the boy's responses suggested it would be his. And should he do that? Waste Alphonse's first season on a mating that would be fruitless even if they weren't both male? Take advantage of the naivety of the young life he'd saved?  
He could hold his breath no longer. His gills flared and his restraint left with them. Ah, one time wouldn't hurt.  
He leaned forward, brushed lips and teeth gently along the boy's spine as he slipped a hand beneath his belly, and down. Alphonse's body rippled in responsive shudders even before he reached his destination. Slow, gentle, the shark ran his hand down the slit that hid the boy's sex, and then pushed a finger in.  
The youngling beneath him bucked again and let out a sweet, melodious cry at that, eyes wide and face red. What was the man doing?! Why was he putting his fingers--there?! And yet, at the same time...  
As Raphael's fingers began stroking and probing, his eyes became glazed and unfocused, and all thoughts of embarrassment and disgust left him for a desire for more. The little thing arched beautifully beneath him and as Raphael continued stroking, he felt the core of the blond's pleasure prodding back at him. A fee more careful stroked and he'd coaxed it out entirely. The boy's cock, pink and warm and glistening in his fingers. But as he touched it, Alphonse bucked back, pushing the two of them off the floor. One of Raphael's arms continued wrapped around his waist, keeping him held against his lap. Alphonse had somewhat regained himself, was not fighting but stared with embarrassment and a hint of fear at his own cock.  
"...w-what is that?"  
Ah. Uh. Uhh?  
Raphael had been quite serious faced throughout the whole endeavor, but now he lit up as brilliant scarlet as the boy.  
"You don't... know?"  
"If I didn't I wouldn't be asking, idiot!"  
The smaller fish's snarl was accompanied by a pointed flexing of his spines, Raphael squeaking in answer.  
"It's--it's, well--it's just something that makes you... feel good."  
Which was true, more or less. Alphonse didn't seem sold by the limping answer, but Raphael hurried on before he could hiss again.  
"It felt good when I touched you there, yes? When it comes out like this... my touches will feel even better. And when you're satisfied, it'll move back in again."  
There was a long quiet moment as Alphonse panted in his hold, trying to decide whether he would trust Raphael or not. But the heat in that place was too strong for him to think properly, and soon he let out a hiss, pressing his cock into the other's touch.  
"Then satisfy me."  
Raphael's tension fell away at the boy's demand, a smile spreading across his lips.  
"I will."  
His clawed fingers closed once more gently around that hard softness, and Alphonse whimpered like the child he was. A few strokes and he was able to coax Alphonse back to the floor, the little thing lying there spines splayed and shuddering and softly vocalizing as Raphael tugged and rolled his swollen cock gently in his hand. The boy's sweet smell only increased as he was pleasured. It was enough to make Raphael feel pleasure of his own.  
The shark's eyes hazed over and the hand that had been cupping Alphonse's waist retreated to his own body, reaching down to where two thick cocks had sprung from his own hole. He gathered them in one hand and began to tug them in time with the pace he was using on the boy, although far more roughly.  
Alphonse didn't notice, if anything he was too focused on his own pleasure. Thin fingers curled into the soft sands below them, hips moving in time with the other's touch. How could this had happened? How could touching have felt so good all this time without him knowing? He felt the pleasure building up slowly inside of him, growing and growing and growing, until he felt he would explode. And in that moment, the other's hand was not enough. He needed more, needed to feel warm all over, to press his body against another. Instinctively he swirled around with a swift flick of his tail, no hand holding him back. He was face to face with Raphael, plastering his lithe body to his, grinning his cock between their warm bodies as his lips sought the shark's collarbone and bit down, moaning as he released against the other's belly, arms wrapped tightly around him.  
It wasn't enough to bring Raphael to climax, but it was lovely all the same. He closed his eyes and stroked carefully along the boy's back as he filled the water with milt, gills heaving, teeth digging into the other's skin.  
When Alphonse had finished Raphael nudged him gently back. The younger male went, unresisting, splayed against the sand in a brilliance of silver and gold. Raphael ran milky fingers down his cheek.  
"Would you like to feel something even better?"  
Alphonse nodded and licked blood off his lips. Raphael bent over him, the other's eyes following as he traced down, down, down below Alphonse's still hard shaft--  
And paused, for where he had expected one additional slit, there were two.  
The shark did not stay still for long. A quicker answer to his question would come from direct exploring.  
His hands cupped both sides of the second slit, squeezing gently, Alphonse whining at the pressure, and then he spread the soft lips.  
Ah... so it was what he'd guessed. He had heard of such fish but never found one. This boy was so much more than just that.  
Raphael debated using his tongue, thought it might make the little one too nervous, and instead pressed two strong fingers into the squirming pulse of his second sex.  
The little thing cried out sharply at that, bucking against his fingers, accidentally pushing them deeper inside him. But the sounds he let out were ones of pleasure and not pain, even when Alphonse looked horrified at what he was doing.  
"D-disgusting," and yet he found the little thing's hips moving in time with his fingers, pushing back against the warm firmness of the other's fingers. Alphonse seemed to have his doubts about what was happening, but any and all of them were greatly overpowered by the pleasant feeling of the other's fingers stroking inside him. The other would not eat him, at least. That much he knew. And with that most important certainty in his mind, Alphonse closed his eyes shut and held onto the other as he let him satisfy him.  
"You're beautiful."  
Raphael murmured into his throat and nuzzled him, forcing himself more fully atop the little thing, free hand moving to caress the boy's shaft while the other worked his softness. It left his own sex unattended, but the twitches of Alphonse's body rubbed against him in a pleasant enough way.  
"Just relax... just breathe..."  
And that was what the youngling did, yielding to those tender touches, sweeping sand up with every flick of his tail, crying out in pleasure when Raphael spread the hand fingering his insides to slip a finger deep within the hole below it as well. Ah, such a nice smell. He was ready to be fucked.  
"This will feel even better still."  
A promise told to his lips, the man molding to his skin, one protruding cock beginning to ease into the boy's femininity.  
Alphonse wasn't fully aware of what was happening. His eyes remained closed as the other probed and touched him. He loved how it felt but he did not want to know what it was the other was doing to him. But then his eyes were forced open as he felt the rigid length of the shark's warm cock entering him. Not only was he younger than Raphael, but his species was also smaller by nature, and his young body had been made to accommodate a smaller male. So it was then that, as Raphael slowly pushed inside him, the pleasure he had felt became smudged with the first hints of pain. His eyes snapped open, body tensed. His first instinct was to spread his spines and fucking STAB him! And yet he found that he couldn't, poison pressed to his own body and out of harm's way, tail aligned with the other's. And so instead he let out a quiet little hiss, small claws sinking into the flesh of Raphael's back as he clung onto him while he sank his fangs back into his collarbone.  
The shark paused at the boy's aggression, wise enough to tell the difference between displeasure and lust. Carefully he edged his body back, and Alphonse's grip softened in response.  
"I'm sorry, Alphonse. I went too quickly. It will feel good if I prepare you better--might I--try something else? I promise it'll be enjoyable, or you can bite me again."  
The man's soothing voice was accompanied by his hands drifting down the boy's sides, rubbing his flesh, the same way he has when they'd begun.  
And Alphonse shivered again at that, the pleasure of his soft touch undeniable. But there was still the matter of the pain he had felt before. He hissed softly and glared.  
"I'll kill you if you mess up."  
Raphael gave a quiet sigh, but nonetheless began to shift into position. This child...! But even through the sarcasm and aggression he felt an attraction to the boy, one he only now began to realize had existed since before he was ready to breed.  
As the shark had feared, Alphonse tensed as he brought his mouth closer to his cock, but a few soft reassurances got him to mostly uncoil. After all, as the boy was well aware, if Raphael was intent on eating him he had had far more opportune moments before.  
Such uncomfortable thoughts vanished from the boy's mind as Raphael flicked his tongue up his rigid sex.  
Indeed, any and Al worries vanished immediately from Alphonse's mind as soon as pain was replaced with pleasure. Every inch of his body seemed to light and heat up as Raphael's tongue lapped up his sex, slow and firm, again and again and again. And meanwhile Raphael couldn't help but savor the taste of the beautiful boy beneath him. And as he tended to him, his licking became more throughout of greed for his taste and not just the desire to relax his body. It was hard to fight the urge to suck on his dick. As much as he trusted him now he doubted the boy would remain calm if such a delicate part of him entered his mouth to share space with his three row of sharp fangs. As such he distracted himself with another idea.  
He gave one last greedy lap to Alphonse's delicious cock before he shifted his attention downwards, nuzzling gently at the slit below before his tongue pressed out to lap at him there. Alphonse bucked again, hands leaving the sand to curl upon the soft strands of the shark's hair instead, cradling him closer as he closed his eyes and pressed back against him. Raphael found that he tasted just as sweet there, and eagerly explored deeper inside him, delicately pulling the folds apart with his fingers as he lapped and nuzzled at him, one of his hands moving downwards again to tease and stroke at his own cocks. The sweetness of Alphonse's taste seemed to grow with every lap.  
"H-haah... more... I-I need m-more..."  
You're not the only one. Raphael thought but didn't say it, lifting his face and licking the new fluid off them before easing his way up the boy's body, back to his previous position. Alphonse tensed again, but immediately Raphael was working him over, one hand dragging him close for his lips to scribble little lines over his skin, one fondling the boy's tender folds. Soon the youngling was gasping and pliant once more, ready to be bred--needing to be bred--and Raphael was happy to oblige.  
He had been gentle the first time. He was even more gentle now. Fingers kept the boy's entry spread as he eased in, his mouth sucking excitedly at the other male's throat, barely resisting the shark's breeding urge to bite. And so, instead, he pressed forward and sealed himself to the boy with a kiss at the same time his cock penetrated his squirming pleading body.  
There was another second of tense silence, a hint of pain as the shark pressed his cock fully inside him and claimed his lips. Alphonse was very still, sinking claws into the shark's flesh once more, but as Raphael began moving in and the pain vanished. The blond shivered in his hold, eyes closing. Alphonse pressed clumsily back against his kiss, hungry for the other's taste as well. His tail rubbed and tangled against Raphael's own as he moved back against that wonderful pressure. Something told him that even then, he was only half complete. His cock rubbing against Raphael's belly left him wanting, but the feeling of the other's warmth inside him was the best he had ever felt. And so, even though he was only half satisfied, Alphonse pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and simply enjoyed the other's hold on him. As for Raphael--the tightness of Alphonse's warm flesh around his cock was wonderful, the boy's femininity more than just a replacement for what his body sought. It was, in fact, exactly what his body needed. And the way Alphonse cried out for him...a siren song that called out for him, sweet and beautiful, a sound that had drowned many a land creature in its calling, but that was meant for him and only him.  
Better than blood indeed.  
Raphael's eyes rolled back into his skull and his teeth flashed in joyful roar whenever he tossed his head back for breath. The thrashing of their bodies and agitated fanning of their gills was kicking sand up in a whirl all around them, and after a few seconds of thrusting Raphael shoved off from the floor and, taking Alphonse with him, pinned the boy against the coral wall instead. Their fucking resumed then in earnest, Alphonse screaming a song of rapture, Raphael hissing bubbles against his neck until he couldn't take it anymore, until he clamped three rows of teeth in his neck, gentle and unyielding all the same--  
Alphonse thought the tunnel collapsed. Everything was a shimmering blur of white and his whole body was PULSING but especially there a secondary heartbeat of pure pleasure that tumbled him down senseless to the floor. When he recovered it was to twitch and whimper, body arcing as Raphael's tongue lapped away the seed he'd left inside him.  
The shark raised his head then, his eyes dark as deep water, reeking of need.  
"I can show you still more, youngling, if you wish it."  
Alphonse needed a moment to regain himself, trembling and panting where he lay while the much bigger fish loomed atop him, trapped him with his dark and hungry eyes.  
Alphonse gulped, and his eyes strayed down at the pink hardness of his still hard cock poking upwards.  
He looked upwards, tried to hide the blood rushing to his face with narrowed eyes and a quiet hiss.  
"...I'm not satisfied yet."  
Raphael's response was a low sweet growl that raised Alphonse's scales at the same time that it made his cock twitch.  
"You will be."  
With a lash of that thick tail the shark was on him again, pinning the boy down against the floor, his poison trapped beneath him. Never had he felt more vulnerable or more thrilled. He whined as Raphael's engorged cock scraped his lips but didn't enter, and the man chuckled.  
"Soon."  
He kissed the boy's other lips then, holding the sweet thing even more still as his hands moved to their task. One wrapped around Alphonse's cock--familiar, erotic--but the other continued down, past the second slit to the third, easing in and continuing the work he'd started prior to their first joining.  
Again the little thing bucked in shock. It was a repetition of their previous courting but it felt new to him all the same, a new part of him that was explored and awakened. He wriggled weakly beneath Raphael's weight, pressing back against his caresses and kisses and moaning deeply when a second and then finally a third finger slipped inside him, caressing and widening, his own cock beginning to taint the water around them once more.  
This boy...  
Raphael's tongue flicked over his lips and he withdrew his hand. Alphonse's cry of want quieted quickly as hand was replaced by thick cock... and then as the second of Raphael's members touched his other hole.  
"You understand, yes? It will feel so good."  
He cupped the boy's face as he whispered to him, and in Alphonse's red flushed trembling he knew he did. But he wasn't finished with him quite yet.  
One arm secured the sweet little creature close, and the other dipped to caress his shaft--almost, almost! The fingers barely flitted across the fevered skin, tormenting him as surely as his cocks were. Raphael leaned in close, his own breathing as rough as Alphonse's, their hearts and lungs racing in time.  
"...Say you need me."  
At first the little thing didn't seem to understand, blinked up at him through the haze of his pleasure. But when more of that pleasure was denied to him, it finally clicked who was the responsible one. Alphonse looked down at the space where their bodies joined, at Raphael's fingers so close to his shaft. He'd been the one to start it and now he refused to finish it, after he'd promised. Alphonse's eyes narrowed, and a moment later he pushed himself forward, joining their two bodies more roughly and thoroughly. And that little motion had him arching and moaning briefly, before he regained himself enough to move forward, sinking fangs and claws on the other's flesh and growling a warning that he better continue what he'd started.  
Ah. He would have liked some indication that his presence was wanted beyond mere need, but...  
The feel of that tight body squeezing both his cocks was better than anything he had ever felt. Better than the ravening tangle he'd known with his own kind, or the lonely lesions with those he'd saved, or the seasons spent stroking himself in silence. This boy, this beautiful, wild, maddening boy, filled him with a burn that went far beyond mere physical desire.  
He locked his arm around the boy and began to thrust, in time with swift jerks of the little one's cock, and the song Alphonse sang was reward enough. But there was more to be had, and they both knew it, and soon Raphael had settled the boy on the sand and his hands on his hips and began to pound him thoroughly, replacing the grip of his hand on his cock with the sweet friction of grinding it between their stomachs. Ah, ah, this was the feeling, his cocks snug and deep in sweet hot flesh, the boy serenading their love.  
The younger fish was a wild and angry little thing, demanding at all times that his needs be met and offering nothing in return. But how he changed when he was fucked. He became a docile little thing, bleating out a beautiful song of pleasure, muffled when he moved to return his kisses, flesh soft and flushed and compliant. They moved as one, Alphonse's hips thrusting back against his to receive his warm cocks inside his tight body, his own shaft squeezed snugly between their bellies. And beneath them, harmless and beautiful, were splayed the blond's spines and frilly fins. An angel fallen just for him. And he did feel as if he'd been made just for him. Their bodies fit so perfectly together, his hunger satisfied by that lithe body like it never had before, but more importantly, a bright fire burning in his chest every time he watched Alphonse's pleasure filled face, staring back at him with need in his eyes. He dipped down to kiss him once more, sinking his hips tightly against the blond's as he filled him with his warmth. It was no waste of a mating, if anything, he felt like he could mate with this beautiful boy for the rest of his life. Alphonse clung to him as the last spasms of their climax left his thin body his song of pleasure dying down, and when he'd somehow regained himself, he did not push the other away, instead tucked his head gently against his chest and closed his eyes, remained pressed to the other one with his warmth filling his insides, moving with Raphael as one.  
The shark was as content as his lover, but not quite so exhausted. With a brief effort he rolled to his back, taking the little thing with him, letting him rest his meager weight against his own. The boy gave off such a comfortable warmth, both inside and out...  
Alphonse's eyes were flickering closed and his breath soft and even with peace when Raphael spoke, rubbing the other's shoulders gently.  
"You can stay with me as long as you like... and I'll make you feel this way, as long as you like."  
The blond barely stirred at his words, merely offered a frown while his eyes remained closed.  
"Disgusting..." And yet, despite his words, the little thing nestled himself closer to him, letting out a satisfied little sigh as he cuddled against the other's warmth. His manhood receded back inside him, a sign that Raphael had kept his promise. And yet he made no efforts to dislodge himself from the other, keeping Raphael's warmth inside him even as he slowly drifted off atop his chest, spines rising up once more, shielding both him and his lover from any possible assailants.  
Raphael lingered a while longer, looking only at the boy, before following after him in sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The months that followed were unlike anything the shark had ever experienced before. Alphonse stayed, even when his wounds had faded forever, taking advantage of Raphael's food and shelter. It was an arrangement the shark was happy to continue. He kept the boy sated on fruits and the flesh of those he couldn't save, and in return Alphonse gave him companionship. It was a blunt, abrasive companionship, to be sure, but it filled a void in Raphael that had long existed. The boy began to acknowledge his presence, seek his company, talk to him for things beyond demands. It made him feel needed in a way saving lives never had. And as they made love, over and over, even when the worst pangs of the season's lust had faded, Raphael wished that life could continue forever.

But things in the sea always changed.

It was a warm night and they were basking together on the sand, bellies full and bodies content after a vigorous breeding. Raphael stroked Alphonse affectionately behind the ear as the boy wormed closer.  
"Would you like to go again, Alphonse?"  
The boy nudged his erection against him in answer, and Raphael's hand strayed down from his head across his belly to--  
They both felt it. A sudden squirming twitch inside Alphonse's belly, which of late had been fuller than usual from what Raphael assumed was good feeding.  
Alphonse was very still atop him, eyes wide. A moment later he jerked away from Raphael, looking down at his belly before he narrowed them to glare at Raphael.  
"What the hell--Did you try to save a sick fish--did you feed me parasite infected meat?! Is that what that is?! I swear if I get sick and die because of you I'll poison you before I go!"  
"No, I don't feed you the sick ones--Alphonse, stay still, please--"  
The boy did so, hissing like a sea snake, as Raphael traced hands over his stomach, reaching in, pressing, tracing the outline of the mass. It was small, but the shape was familiar.  
"Well?!"   
"I..."  
That wasn't the feel of a parasite, and if it had been one, the boy's health would have been affected adversely sooner. A worm didn't reach that size peacefully. But something else could. Yet at the same time it made no sense at all.  
"WELL?!"  
"Alphonse, I... you..."  
The shark cleared his throat.  
"You said I was the first fish you'd bred with, but did you ever... run into another of your kind, while they were breeding?"  
Another angry hiss, and then the boy made a swift little twirl just to smack Raphael with his tail.  
"No! I've barely even SEEN anyone like me at all—but that has nothing to do with this! What aren't you telling me?" He hissed impatiently.  
Raphael swallowed again, fin tips rolling in circles.  
"I think you might be... with child."  
And again Alphonse stared at him with wide eyes while he tried to make sense of the shark's words. All of a sudden he smacked Raphael again, glaring.  
"I am not a female fish, Raphael, it's not funny—I could be dying!" With that the other fish turned and began swimming away, looking determined away. Raphael followed, and after a moment of silence he dared ask.   
"Alphonse… what are you doing?"  
"I'm looking for poisonous weed to flush this fucker out."  
Raphael squeaked in alarm, and a second later he'd flared in front of the boy, blocking his advance through the watery forest. Alphonse hissed.  
"Move it, the longer this thing stays in--"  
"Alphonse, you're both!"  
The blonde didn't understand, tilted his head and pursed his lips as he waited for Raphael to explain whatever dumbshit idea he had now.  
"Both what?"  
"A male and a--female--"  
"Are you fucking crazy--"  
"You have both body parts! Just look at me, see? Two slits, but you have three--"  
Alphonse scoffed and glared all the more intensely.  
"You're absolutely disgusting. That means nothing! Just because you have two nasty sticks and I have just one it doesn't mean I'm--" he came to a pause then, blinking as he thought over his own words. When they finished settling in, he looked both nervous and flustered.  
"W-wait... how many are males supposed to have--does everyone else have two too?!"  
Raphael couldn't quite fight off a smile, and Alphonse shrieked.  
"I-It's not funny, asshole!"  
"Ah sorry, sorry--no, most males have one, Alphonse, don't worry. It's this that makes you unusual..."  
The man's fingers ghosted over the boy's middle sex, and Alphonse shivered receptively before twitching back. Abruptly Raphael's face brightened.  
"But if you don't believe me--what do your parents look like, Alphonse?"  
Alphonse flinched at the question, frowning and looking away. He was quiet for a moment before he finally turned around, began swimming slowly back towards the shark's home.  
"I don't know…"   
Raphael blinked, but followed, and after a few quiet moments, he finally asked out of concern.  
"Um…what do you mean you don't know Alphonse?"   
He received another smack to his face, the boy turning around and hissing.  
"I mean I don't know! I've never seen them okay? As far as I remember it's just been me, and anyone else stupid enough to try to get close is dinner, and everyone else wasn't quite so stupid, I suppose…. except for you." One last glare and the blond began swimming away again, except not towards the shark's home anymore, but rather away from him.  
Ah.  
It took a moment of stupid staring before Raphael launched after him, calling the boy's name. Alphonse ignored him utterly.  
"Alphonse, I'm sorry--"  
The blonde dodged abruptly in reverse, and while Raphael was swifter, the boy was by far more agile. By the time the larger fish had clumsily twisted after him the little thing had vanished into the rippling shadows of the great forest.  
"I'm glad you're with me!"  
No answer. Raphael lunged forward, trying to follow the boy's scent. But over the months the boy's smell had gotten everywhere, and no matter how much or how hard he looked, there was no trace of the swift little thing. 

Alphonse swam as fast as he could near the roots of the towering forest, disturbing it as little as he could as he made his way away. What was he going to do now? Was he really…with child? What the fuck? Well how the hell was that going to work out? The option to find some poisonous algae still sounded tempting…but if his life wasn't at risk, there was no need to get himself AT risk. He supposed in the end, he'd just keep swimming on, and whatever had to happen would happen, just as it always had.  
Soon it grew dark around him, and he began missing the safety of Raphael's home, the safety of a great shark looming over him. His spines were splayed out, eyes wide and looking all around him as he sought for a crevice to hide into.  
The shadows misled; every potential crevice was just a folded mass of vegetation, a dead folded strand, a mockery of safety. The hollowed chunk of coral Raphael had called home seemed more outlier than norm. Or perhaps the reef simply lay in the other direction.  
Then again, which direction was "other?" Which way was back? Could he find the way even if he wanted to?  
He came to a stop, trembling, spines raised. The forest danced around him in broken silhouettes, every twist a hiding place for a monster.  
And then there was white. The flick of a shark's tail whipping suddenly amidst the undergrowth. Alphonse's heart leapt.  
"Raph--"  
The shark that swept into the clearing wasn't Raphael, although the species was the same. A powerful body, hair luminescent even in the dim, the teeth flashing cascades of death as it breathed. But...  
This shark stared at him with curiosity rather than familiarity, and it was bigger than Raphael, but more than that. The face was softer and sweeter, more akin to his own, and the chest...  
Ah, well, Alphonse had seen fish like that before. Girls! But this one... the breasts were soft and round as the moon, pale and sweet, only half veiled beyond the long hair.  
Raphael's name died in his lips as he stared at her with wide eyes. She was much like Raphael, obviously the same type of shark, but at the same time she was nothing like the other shark, not at all. And not just because of her soft breasts, which he found himself staring at a little too intently--to the point that he'd begun mindlessly drifting towards her. He caught himself on time, however, shook himself awake from that trance, but wasn't able to shake the red off his face. She was staring back. Well, what now? She was just looking at him. Despite the fact that Raphael had chosen not to prey on the healthy, he doubted the rest of his species had done the same. He moved back, alert, yet unable to do the one rational thing and swim away for his life.  
"U-um... h-hello?"  
The girl stared at him in answer, and the result was that Alphonse's redness continued to creep rather than proceed. Something about her was very... nice... to look at. If she was looking at him that way, did she... like how he looked, too?

His heart pulsed. And then with a flip of her tail and a flash of her teeth she was lunging for his throat.

A frightened squeak cut short as he did his best to maneuver out of her way, barely avoiding her sharp teeth as she barreled forward, her strength and size keeping her from turning in time to catch him. His spines were stretched and spread only for a moment before they pressed tightly back against his body as he chose to run rather than face her. A moment later he shot back into the forest around them, maneuvering rapidly through the green in an attempt to lose her, terrified that at any moment he would get tangled and held back.  
"R-Raphael! Raphael! RAPHAEL!"  
He couldn't see her now but he could hear her, slamming through the foliage with the force of raw muscle. She went through the kelp rather than around it and because of that she was gaining, gaining, gaining--  
Alphonse screamed as she appeared before him--sobbed as he realized it was Raphael. The shark pushed past him, teeth bared.  
"Go, Alphonse!"  
There was no time. The hunter tore through the weeds, jaws gaping--and pulled to a puzzled stop. Raphael fluttered in alarm.  
"Liora?!"  
"Hello, brother."  
A soft voice, unbefitting her aggression. She looked down and clasped her hands unhappily as Raphael proceed to scream at her.  
"You almost--you can't--I told you not to hunt here, EVER!"  
Everything had happened far too fast for the small fish to actually run away, and so he was there to hear the exchange of words. That behemoth of a shark was Raphael's sister?! Well no wonder she had seemed familiar. And yet, was nothing like him at all! Instead of running away like Raphael had instructed, the shark felt his small lover pressing tightly to his back and shaking, spines spread all over behind him.   
A nice big shark on the front and poison on the back, an impenetrable defense. And despite the fact that the girl had just tried to kill him, he still peeked at her over Raphael's shoulder.  
The shark girl looked less deadly now that she was fidgeting uncomfortably before her brother.  
"I'm sorry, Raphael, I was hungry a-and--"  
"That's not an excuse! Leave!"  
Liora swayed unhappily in place before turning and vanishing into the green depths. Raphael huffed and then turned to look over his shoulder.  
"It's alright, Alphonse. Nothing will hurt you now."  
Alphonse tensed and then lunged forward.  
"N-no wait—" All of a sudden he paused, realizing what he was doing and turning back. Only to grab Raphael's arm and begin tugging him towards the girl.  
"W-wait! wait you don't h-have to go. My name is A-Alphonse, won't you stay a while? I've… never seen anyone like you."  
Raphael could only blink stupidly as his sister, who'd only seconds ago been trying to kill the boy, turned around and blinked back at them.  
"Oh, can I?"  
Raphael opened and closed his mouth a few times before looking at the blonde.  
"Alphonse..."  
"It's ok, you won't try to eat me again, right?"  
The girl stared at him in answer until Raphael snapped.  
"Liora!"  
"Um, n-no. I promise. You're cute."  
The boy blushed even as he hid behind Raphael.  
"R-really? Thank y-you." Raphael didn't understand what was going on, but decided not to fight it either. Instead, he grabbed the boy and held him protectively against his chest rather than let him cling to his back, where he would be exposed to his sister's itching jaws.   
Alphonse clung back to him, but through the whole ride home he stared over his shoulder and above, at the looming shape of the shark's bigger sister, swimming lazily above them and staring fixedly down at them. At him. AH, what was this feeling in his chest? Definitely fear, but also, something else.  
All of a sudden, he found himself speaking.  
"…Can I touch you?"  
The girl stared at him again, then moved her head in what might have been a nod--but he couldn't tell, because Raphael abruptly seized his head and made him look at him.  
"Alphonse, what is going on with you?! She tried to eat you not five minutes ago and you're asking her over and to... touch..."  
Raphael took a sudden breath and caught his sister's smell. It wasn't the usual scent, and while it wouldn't work on shared blood, it was more than enough to seduce the boy.  
"Liora, you have to go, NOW!"  
Whimpering from the girl above; Raphael twisted his head to snarl at her, Alphonse clutched tight.  
"NOW!"  
"No!" An agonized little cry from the boy, now wriggling desperately in his hold in an attempt to break free from him. Raphael was bigger and stronger, however, and so there was no escaping his grip. Unless...  
A moment later Alphonse's spines flared, missing Raphael's skin by inches. Now it was his time to grab Raphael's head and force him to look at him while he hissed.  
"Tell her she can stay!"  
"You're not thinking straight, Alphonse! It's her pheromones, they make you want to mate--"  
"So?! I'd rather mate with her then you!"  
Raphael's mouth open and shut and his hold went limp. Alphonse angrily wrested free, turning elatedly towards the female shark--only to realize she was gone, a ripple of white as she tore off through the kelp, sobbing softly.  
"No wait!" Without thinking, without the safety of Raphael's protection, he lunged after her, disappearing into the woods of kelps surrounding them, not sparing the other shark a single glance.  
"Liora wait! Please don't go! Don't listen to Raphael--I've never met anyone like you before! I just... please let me be with you!"  
"Alphonse--!"  
But it was too late; the boy was gone, whipping away after the girl through the trampled foliage, faster then he could follow. 

The larger shark was swift by virtue of sheer power, enough so that she would have eventually caught Alphonse if she was still on the hunt. But he was the pursuer now, not her, the brightness of her image receding as they raced through the forest and left Raphael's cries far behind.  
Abruptly the forest came to an end; Alphonse jerked out of the entwining green and screamed her name, and only then did she stop.  
"My brother doesn't want me h-here... I have to leave..."  
Something inside him told him to turn around, go back to safety in Raphael's arms, but the rest of him wanted to get closer, and so he did, slowly swimming forward, drawn like a fish to the light.  
"No, please don't! Um… I can help you stay, alright? We'll go back together and convince him. He was angry you were hunting, but if we go back together he'll see everything is fine, please? Please…" He drifted off as he found himself directly in front of her. But it wasn't fear that quieted, instead…  
He gulped, and asked again.  
"Can I… can I touch you?"  
Only then did she turn. The filtered light caught like stars in her hair, and her sea green eyes caught him in a net tighter than the one Raphael had freed him from.  
She was twice his size. She had already proven she saw him as food. She could kill him in a second.  
She nodded.  
For a moment he didn't move, merely floated before her, captured in her gaze, and when he finally did move it was to look around, at her, at all of her. He'd asked to touch her, and yet he didn't know where. And so he continued to drift there, helpless and soft and delicious before one of the greatest hunters of the sea. He reached out, his whole body trembling and his fingers sought hers, intertwining and holding her hand, lifting it up. He looked at her. She was still just staring. He gulped down and then rubbed against her palm with a whimper.  
She was so still. Ah, maybe he shouldn't have--  
Abruptly she swept him up into her arms, giggling and spinning. Alphonse simply froze in her hold, wide eyed and heart pounding, until she came to a stop. Her tail was twined close against his.  
"So cute! And you smell so nice."  
The shark stopped mid thought, blinking, then asked worriedly--  
"Can I touch you, too?"  
Could she touch him? He was pressed tightly against her, held in her arms. He looked up at her with wide eyes, face settled between her soft breasts. His gills flared wildly, face red and heated.  
Could she touch him?  
"Y-yes please!"  
She gave a full faced smile at that, showing three rows of fangs, but he didn't mind now. Her arms pulled away only for her hands to secure him, scooping him up, small as a child as she held him before her. The spines that were his only defense lay slack as he shivered in her sight and felt that same warm internal rush Raphael's first caresses had given him. Then she was bringing him closer, to her face, to her sharp jaws--  
She pressed her lips to his.  
She was soft and warm and sweet. She was the softest, warmest, sweetest thing he'd ever felt since Raphael-no, much better than that. He felt as if even if she ate him now, it'd be worth it, just to feel her soft touch on him. Alphonse kissed her back immediately, pressing back into her embrace, his tail rubbing eagerly against hers. He couldn't help himself. The shark moved back as she felt something warm and hard pressing against her. The blond in her arms merely panted and stared at her with need in his eyes. He gave a small whimper as their bodies separated.  
"P-please… please breed me? Please… I n-need you."  
The girl tilted her head ever so slightly, blinking. It reminded him of Raphael--but far more beautiful.  
"What is... breeding?"  
Alphonse made a few odd noises and went more red, and in the absence of an answer her eyes drifted down to the new odd sensation she was feeling--  
Found his cock, flushed and vibrant with arousal, and her pupils dilated.  
Something in that excited him. Her reaction to his intimacy. Maybe she was excited, too--  
Liora screamed. She tossed herself away from him and coiled up on herself, face clutched in her hands, tears bubbling up her cheeks.  
"No! No no no I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't mean to I didn't mean to I didn't--"  
Then she lunged forward, Alphonse letting out a brief frightened yelp, subsiding once he found herself between her arms rather than her teeth. She plunged back into the kelp forest with the smaller fish held close, screaming again with new urgency.  
"Raphael! Raphael, Raphael, help, he's dying--"  
No! No no no no! Why was this happening?! He almost wished she had just eaten him instead! And now she was dragging him to Raphael--  
He wriggled wildly in her hold, managed to slip free and shot straight down. He couldn't outrun her, and there was no place to hide, but he would NOT let her or anyone else see her like this!  
He swam straight to a thick clump of kelp, purposefully tangling himself all around it, until he was nothing but a trembling ball of algae, sharp spines poking out everywhere while he whimpered.  
"P-please leave me alone!"  
She cried out for him, circling close around his balled form.  
"You're hurt! Please, please, Raphael can help--"  
"Please just g-go!"  
"I don't want you to die!"  
Alphonse's spines jerked straight up as his eyes widened. And they widened further still when a second later she grabbed him, spikes and all, poison quills piercing her skin as she pulled him loose  
He jerked himself back from her grip then, spines and all, only to move forward, taking her hands in his and looking down at them in horror.  
"L-Liora no--I'm poisonous--you're going to die! Raphael! Raphael! RAPHAEL!!" He screamed, trying to tug her in the direction the other shark was frantically, their roles suddenly reversed.  
Liora didn't scream at her own peril. Rather, she jerked the boy back into her arms--careful now of the spines--and tore off towards what had been her own destination. In her mind, Alphonse was dying, too.

They found him sooner than expected; Raphael looked completely exhausted, his attempt to follow them having taken considerable effort. But still he jerked upright when they appeared, all the more so because they were both screaming.  
"She's dying--"  
"He's dying--"  
Alphonse rose his siren voice above her own, shrill as pain.  
"I poisoned her you have to--"  
Raphael shoved forward then, but not to his sister, pushing her away to examine Alphonse. The boy screamed again and Raphael's gills flared, yelling over him.  
"Your poison doesn't work on us, Alphonse! I back off when I do out of respect! Now how are you hurt?!"  
"His organs came out of his tail--it was p-pink and hard--"  
Liora was sobbing wretchedly. Raphael's face went blank before twisting over in scorn. He released Alphonse and drifted back.  
"He's not dying, Liora. That happens with males. Now I suppose I should just leave and let you two get back to it, eh?"  
The boy didn't care to answer, had curled up as soon as he'd been released, hiding his face behind his hands, face red with shame again as he trembled and whimpered and slowly sank down into the sand.  
"I-it doesn't... affect you? All this time I've been... I've been... augh!" He cried as if he'd been struck, twisting to turn his back on both of them even as he kept covering his face.  
"...Please just let me die here..."  
"Depths below, Alphonse, stop being so drama--"  
Raphael didn't get the chance to finish being angry. Liora surged suddenly forward, picking up the smaller fish despite his resistance, squeezing him close.  
"I'm so glad you're o-okay, Alphonse!"  
The boy might have protested if she didn't take that opportunity to also turn him and press her lips anew to his.  
Raphael made an undisguised sound of disgust and turned, drifting heavily back in the direction he'd come from.  
The other shark was entirely forgotten as the two embraced, the blond also forgetting about his previous shame. He kissed the girl back earnestly, shivering against her and clinging to her pale flesh, his tail aligning once more with hers as he pressed against her--  
Then all of a sudden he squeaked, pushing back and looking up at her with wide eyes as he blushed, hands pressed down on his lap, hiding his slits.  
"P-please no... it'll come out again and you don't want to b-breed..."  
Again the larger female tilted her head in confusion. How innocent she looked! How many fish had met their ends that way, clueless until the very end?  
Not that he cared. All he cared about was being with her... but he couldn't, she didn't want--  
Her hand touched his shoulder and he started.  
"Alphonse... I don't know what breeding is... I was just so scared you were hurt... but you're ok, and I'm happy to be with you, so you can show me now."  
Her smile filled him with warmth.  
Oh no! He felt as if his heart would burst right out of his chest with how fast it was beating. He wriggled under her gaze, hands uncovering his tail to cover his face instead.  
"S-Show you? o-oh no…I-I would have to touch you so m-much… so much everywhere… and… a-and kiss you many times and… a-and t-touch inside… w-what if you don't like it and hate me?" He squeaked, peering at her from between his finger, tail swishing nervously from side to side.  
He could only just make out the shape of her angelic face between his fingers. She traced her hands softly down his face and smiled.  
"Don't worry. If I don't like it and hate you I'll just eat you!"  
Alphonse squeaked, especially more so when Liora grabbed him into a crushing hug, giggling.  
"But I love you, so I definitely won't hate and eat you, even if I don't like it!"  
The blond squeaked again. Why had he not gone with the other shark again? Sure, Liora made him feel like he'd never felt before…but at least he knew for a fact that Raphael wouldn't eat him. And yet, the thought that he wouldn't so much mind being eaten by her after being able to get so close to her remained. Alphonse trembled against her, burying his face against her soft chest.  
"P-please don't eat me… I just want to make you feel good," He whimpered, and then moved, nuzzling at her soft chest, licking. His hands moved as well stroking the shark's skin, rubbing, petting, exploring as his tongue did the same. Even on the outside, she was sweet. Again he found himself intoxicated by her taste and scent, eyes glazing as his body began moving instinctively, tracing circles with his tongue, nudging his head down and down and down.  
Liora had begun shivering in time with Alphonse even before he'd begun his caresses, and now she just watched, rosy and unresisting, as the little thing worked over her body.  
It reminded her of the remoras that had tried to cling to her only to meet ill ends, but the sensation... it was much better. It was like the smell he had, that toxic sweet that had lured her in from the start, had materialized in her body in physical form. She trembled harder and harder, whimpering, and then his perfect little head slid below her hips--  
She cried out as his tongue found her parting slit and inserted itself. She had never felt anything like it before. She needed more. Strong clawed hands curled around the boy's back, drawing him closer and still, burying his face in her softness.  
The boy squeaked at that, eyes snapping open. He was relieved to see that she was enjoying his touch this time, rather than being horrified by it. Oh good, so her sudden grip on him wasn't t eat him! Having seen that, he visibly relaxed, began tending to the larger female before him. His hands stroked her tail as he closed his eyes again and leaned forward against her softness, nuzzling and licking deeper in. She was the best thing he'd ever tasted.  
He sunk deeper into her as she trembled above her, one hand leaving her tail to reach for his, grabbing at the cock that had once more pushed itself forward into the open and massaging himself with trembling fingers. Ah he wanted…he needed…warmth, softness, tightness around it, but his hand wasn't enough. So then, what if he…like Raphael had done? What if he went inside her?  
Yes! that was it!  
He whimpered, but ah, wasn't he missing something? Raphael hadn't just…out it in him, he'd done something before, he'd made him feel good. With some squirming, he'd managed to push his face out of the way enough for his fingers to reach her, probing and stroking before they went in. He took the chance to look up at her. Her eyes were closed, her body trembling and arching as she held him tightly, voice rising with his caresses. Good, she was enjoying herself. And she looked so beautiful too…  
Alphonse bit his lip.  
"L-Liora…can I… c-can I be i-inside you?…Please," He croaked, leaning forward and licking her slit once more.  
"Yes!"  
A happy squeak, and then she was pressing him all the way in--his face, at least. Alphonse let out some squeaks of his own, considerably muffled, and Liora seemed to like the sensation--which left her rather disappointed when he managed to pull away and pop his head up between her breasts, gasping for air.  
"N-Not like that!"  
"Oh? Then your fingers again? I liked that, too."  
She nuzzled him as he spoke, and the warmth crept back up his face as he returned the gesture.  
"N-No... something else..."  
"What?"  
Her lips left a teasing kiss on his nose.  
"Show me."  
Alphonse shivered and licked his lips. He could still taste her sweetness in them. He moved back ever so slightly, showing her his arousal.  
"I-is it okay if I put it in?" Oh, so THAT is what that was for, the shark thought. After a moment of staring she nodded, and the boy smiled eagerly, pressing in.  
Liora shivered and gripped him all the more tightly to herself, the male's smaller body eclipsed by her own, face busily suckling her breasts while his hips thumped rhythmically against her own. It felt nice, but... his fingers had felt better. His tongue, especially, had felt better. It was like he was working just below where she needed--  
Alphonse squeaked as she suddenly squeezed him up all the closer to her, his still sheathed cock now higher in her body. She let out a sweet sound that reverberated through her whole flesh and shook Alphonse with it. His pupils dilated with delight, his breath quickened, and with every approving noise she gave he thrust more furiously. She was warm and wet and close around him and the way she smelled--! Their songs wove together into one, beautiful and haunting, a lure to sate their other appetites. But at the moment the only thing they desired was each other.  
Alphonse felt the familiar high coming quickly. Liora cried out and writhed against him in her own ecstasy, and the feeling of her spasms--he released with her, within her, their bodies interknotted and their hearts and gills beating as one.

Alphonse relaxed as their spasms died down, but not entirely. Even as his the haze of their pleasure died down, he kept his hips pressed firmly to hers at all times, his cock still firm inside her, bottling up his release in her. He let out sweet, loving sounds as he nuzzled at her chest, periodically licking her sweet skin and looking up at her with all the adoration of the starving remoras that had found their end at her jagged teeth.  
"L-Liora I…I-I love you, I love you, you're the best—I don't ever want to let you go," He mewled, gently continuing to rock his hips against her as he leaned forward to attempt to kiss her lips without dislodging himself.  
She kissed him back gentle, sweet, and he was content. Liora was... she was better than Raphael... than anything in the whole world! Would she, maybe, let him stay...?  
Suddenly she shuddered and the force of it dislodged him. He squeaked and wriggled to lodge himself in her again, but her hands caught his shoulders and kept him away.  
"L-Liora?"  
"Alphonse... I feel... s-strange..."  
She whimpered a little and then her eyes strayed down--and widened. His followed and widened more.  
Ah... above the sweet warm heaven of her entrance, something was emerging. It yawned forth from the same slit, only higher up, engorging and swelling into--  
"Oh," Liora said, mildly. "Can I put it in you now?"  
Alphonse's skin was a bright shade of pink. He couldn't stop staring down at…at it. It looked somewhat like Raphael's and even his own, so that meant it was…  
He squeaked.  
Ah, his body asked him to plunge his own back into Liora, to seal her with his body, but seeing it reminded him of his time with Raphael, how he had filled him all up, how it had felt…and if Liora did it, even if she had only one, wouldn't it feel better?  
Having her hold him close, press him back against the sand, their lips locked…  
He wriggled gently in her hold, looking away. He would have covered his face if her hands hadn't been pinning his arms to his sides.  
"Y-you can, just be… be gentle please."  
"I will!" She chirped, nuzzling toothily against his face. He felt dizzy and warm and good--until she pitched suddenly forward with him against the sand, huge shaft rubbing at his entry. She was so big--!  
Liora paused at his tension. Her hands traced down his shoulders, across his chest, over his flaring gills. It was a part of him that even Raphael hadn't touched, so sensitive, so delicate, but Liora's caresses were soothing as the water itself. Alphonse felt himself relaxing beneath those strokes, drooping softly into the sand. Liora nudged him.  
"I won't hurt you. I love you, Alphonse."  
She began to press in anew to his now unresistant body, lips touching his.  
Alphonse closed his eyes and kissed her back, letting out a muffled little moan as her body began entering his. She was bigger than Raphael, but his body had already been bred many times. Right before he'd found her, he'd just been done taking Raphael's seed inside...  
There was no preparation for his entrance, but there was also no need for any. He was warm and soft and ready to receive her. Slowly and gently, just as she had promised, she sunk into his flesh, the little thing humming happily and rubbing against her. Trembling fingers reached forward and stroked her skin until finally, timidly, they moved to settle on her soft breasts instead.  
Alphonse closed his eyes and kissed her back, letting out a muffled little moan as her body began entering his. She was bigger than Raphael, but his body had already been bred many times. Right before he'd found her, he'd just been done taking Raphael's seed inside...  
There was no preparation for his entrance, but there was also no need for any. He was warm and soft and ready to receive her. Slowly and gently, just as she had promised, she sunk into his flesh, the little thing humming happily and rubbing against her. Trembling fingers reached forward and stroked her skin until finally, timidly, they moved to settle on her soft breasts instead.  
And she whimpered and trembled in turn, the small size that had previously worked against her now settled in her favor, Alphonse tight and sweet all around her. She had felt odd urges from time to time, when the seasons were right, but they had always been dismissed in favor of hunger. But now, with this boy...  
She kissed him and ravaged him with greatest care as he fondled her breasts, the two roiling together in sweet love upon the sea floor. But as heavenly as it felt, to scratch an itch so long ignored, there was something still troubling her. And Alphonse, too, his hard little shaft running her skin with each thrust.  
Ah.  
Alphonse blinked as she moved away, whimpering. She smiled at him in reassurance and then twisted around, head to tail and tail to head. The boy didn't immediately understand--but then his softness met her hardness and his hardness met her softness.  
"Like this?"  
Alphonse arched against her at that, lifting off the sands, his head throw back as he stared blankly forward, vision blurred with pleasure. His arms wrapped instinctively around her tail, keeping him both close and aligned with her sweet flesh as their dance began. This was it—this felt right! This was the way things were supposed to be. Ever since Raphael had first bred him, he had found something about himself he hadn't known, and yet, as much as he'd enjoyed it, he'd always felt it was…lacking. Then Liora had come along, and that sweet softness surrounding his shaft seemed to be the answer to his need, but now, NOW.  
His body moved in time with hers, a sinuous wave that never stopped, spines spread sharp and wide beneath him as his song rose again.  
His instincts were not hers, but the act felt very pleasant all the same. Oh--so many strange new feelings, this night! But this was the greatest of them all. A wave of pleasure that churned her insides like the tides and filled her blood with heat.  
Her only faint dismay was being unable to cup and kiss Alphonse's face, but even that worry was soon forgotten under this, this...  
They spun like the stars, consumed by each other, until their rapture lifted them high, high above the waters.

Alphonse was still breathing slow and ragged on the sand when Liora had recovered; she nuzzled his face lovingly and he looked up, to see a few other fish floating close by, dazzled by the drug of his music.  
"Are you hungry?"  
Alphonse stirred up slowly at that. First he gazed up into her eyes, blushing, but then his eyes strayed downwards, seeing their bodies part, and so he drooped slightly at that. He'd wanted to stay pressed against her forever and ever and ever…but ah, no matter. She was still here, she was still with him. Shiny, the little fish arched up, pressing his lips lightly to hers in an affectionate little peck.  
"Yes… and you? do you want me to find you food Liora? I will! I will find anything you want…"  
She kissed him back, the smaller male flushing and squirming at the attention.  
"It's ok, Alphonse. I can feed us both."  
She went from soft nuzzles to whipping around so fast that he was left stunned. The nearest fish had no chance, eyes dilating right before triple rows of teeth clamped over his throat--  
The others, siren song broken, fled for their lives. It didn't matter. Liora drifted back to Alphonse with kill in hand, nudging him with a gentleness that belied what she'd just done.  
"I love you, Alphonse."  
He stared wide eyed. That could have been him. In fact, it had almost been him. If Raphael had not been there...  
He shivered in awe at her sheer speed and strength. He nuzzled back against her as a ribbon of red began surrounding them, pouring forth from her victim's throat.  
"I love you too Liora, please stay by my side!"  
"I will!" Another loving kiss between the two, before the scent of blood around them finally reminded them of their last untended hunger, and together they sunk fangs into Liora's fresh catch, Alphonse relishing the taste of fresh and healthy flesh. He had missed it dearly, even if out of convenience he had settled for Raphael's lesser offerings. When they were finally full, they discarded the rest. Alphonse looked around them and realized it was growing dark. They needed refuge to rest, and Alphonse knew were to find it. He held Liora's hand and began tugging her gently forward.  
"Let's go Liora, Raphael's place should be nearby." She hesitated at that, looking worried.  
"But my brother... he doesn't want me to be here." Alphonse moved forward then, taking both of her hands in his.  
"But I want you to be here Liora, so he can either let you stay, or we will both leave."  
And the girl's face went rose at that. Considering all they had just done, and hopefully would soon again, Alphonse had no right to be embarrassed--but he blushed sweetly all the same. And squeaked when she kissed him.

The swim back to Raphael's cave was peaceful; the looming forest was no longer a threat, Alphonse drifting peacefully alongside his larger, stronger protector. Liora had that dreamy look in her eyes again, following him without complaint, touching and kissing him to his delight whenever they bumped together in the enclosing kelp.  
Then at last they were there--and so was Raphael. He brightened at seeing them--soured--and just as quickly his face changed to horror.  
"You smell like--what have you done, Liora?! What have I told you?!"  
The girl whimpered and attempted, ineffectually, to hide behind Alphonse.  
And in answer, Alphonse flared up protectively, spines and fins in full display despite the knowledge that his poison was worthless on Raphael. Even then, getting skewered by one of them would be quite unpleasant, to say the least.  
"And what do you expect her to do? Starve?! Look at you--you're half her size! A skinny little thing. If I wasn't able to feed on fruit we would have both started starving. If someone needs to die for Liora to be alright, then they should die. Why can't you see that? She's your own sister, you bastard" he hissed as he floated slightly above him, giving the impression of looking down on him as he glared at the other shark with disgust.  
Raphael met Alphonse's malice with his own, an aggression he'd never shown before his sister appeared.  
"It's possible, even for her! She used to--she could do it again--but no! I told you DO NOT KILL within my lands!"  
The shark girl was getting more miserable by the second; Alphonse could feel her muscles hunching up behind him in preparation to run. Raphael spat.  
"If you're going to kill, then you can't stay here! Either--either of you!"  
And Alphonse flared up even more at that, looking for all the world as if he would suddenly shoot out his own spines. Not that he could, or he might actually have done it. But then he deflated, sighing.  
"Fine." Raphael kept glaring, but Alphonse continued speaking, moving forward.  
"If she can really feed without killing, we'll stay. And you will get the food she needs." Before Raphael could protest Alphonse had grabbed his face with both hands, forcing him to look at him as he continued.  
"You will get her the food she needs, because otherwise we are going to leave, and we are going to kill again and again and again. And this isn't about you wanting to be an asshole to your sister. This is about saving lives, isn't it, Raphy?"  
"It is. So maybe I shouldn't have saved yours."

The boy's eyes widened in offense, gills rippling--and then Raphael shoved him away with a snarl.  
"I spared you that fate. I spared you! And yet my sister almost kills you, reminds you of that horror, and you instantly--inflict it on someone else!"  
The shark's teeth sawed together and with one last heated spit he turned and vanished back into his tunnel. Liora's head drooped.  
"Ugh!" The fish huffed, glaring at Raphael. It looked as if he would just outright shoot after him and give him a piece of his mind. But no, not yet. Instead he turned to Liora, expression immediately softening as he held her hands.  
"I'm sorry Liora…just give me one last chance, okay? Please don't leave without me…no matter what. I wouldn't know what to do without you" Liora whimpered but nodded, and that brought a smile upon Alphonse's face. He drifted forward and pressed his lips softly to hers before he turned and followed Raphael into his cave. He found the other shark curled up in the dark of his home, back turned away from him.  
"…when you found me, I gave you my neck, Raphael, remember? And now you regret it because I am the way you should be? It doesn't matter how many you spare, in the end, there's always going to be something else out there ready to end them. Like Liora tried to. Like something else out there probably will one day. There will always be something else out there… especially if all you do to try to convince others to join you is yell angrily at them." Raphael curled up more tightly around himself as Alphonse drew closer.  
"For some strange reason, your sister likes you and wants to please you… I like Liora, so I want to help her. Will you actually put some effort into trying to help her?"  
Raphael said nothing. Alphonse might have been a pufferfish, so much did he swell in outrage, but then with a huff he spun around. Liora was out there, alone, and if he left her that way who was to say she wouldn't vanish--  
"I can't help her."  
Alphonse stopped.  
"I tried. I can't. As you say... everything I do... everything... comes to nothing."  
A moment of silence, and then a sigh from the blond.  
"Raphael..." The shark shuddered as he felt the other drifting closer, peering down at him.  
And then he squeaked as Alphonse smacked his shoulder, grinning.  
"That's okay Raphy. As I said, I'm here now, and I'll help you help her. Now get off your ass and tell her she can stay. I think she's about to cry out there because of you," He said, beginning to tug excitedly at his arm to drag him outside.

Raphael didn't move, so much dead weight under Alphonse's hold. The boy grunted at that, tugging more harshly--  
Raphael jerked his arm away.  
"Didn't you hear me? It doesn't matter. Leave me alone."  
"Ugh!" Alphonse snapped again, moving to swim right in front of the shark before he grabbed at his face instead, forcing him to look at him.  
"What is WRONG with you?! First you whine about saving lives and next you keep pushing away the chance to actually do something?! You keep this up and I'm swimming out of this cave and poisoning everyone in my path! And I won't even eat them! Not a nibble!"  
Raphael grabbed back with a force that reminded Alphonse, uncomfortably, of Liora's. The spined fish found himself pinned down by the throats against the stone floor, Raphael heaving above him, jaws wide.  
"I did do something! I saved you! I showed you there was another way--and even so as soon as you had a chance you killed! You learned nothing! No matter what I do, the second I turn away, you and my miserable sister will do it again! Don't LIE to me!"  
The boy was thrown away then, Raphael twisting to hiss after him.  
"Get out!"  
The smaller fish growled, then twirled rapidly, the spines on his tail scratching the thick skin on Raphael's face and chest.  
"Don't call Liora miserable, you miserable bastard! and I didn't kill anyone, so fuck you!" He hissed before turning and swimming rapidly away, not because he feared the shark would fight back, but because he was afraid the commotion might have scared Liora away. Thankfully, she was still there, looking concerned. He swam over to her and didn't stop once he had reached her, taking her hand and tugging her gently away.  
"I'm sorry Liora…I couldn't convince him… it's alright, I'll go with you and we'll find some place to stay even better."  
Despite his reassurances the girl drooped at his words, until she'd collapsed entirely on the ocean floor, sobbing while the boy tugged at her in vain.  
"It's ok, Liora, he's no good anyway--"  
"I should never have c-come!"  
Alphonse squeaked and gripped on to her tail just in time as she lurched forward, tearing again through the twisting green with the boy clinging desperately on. When they burst into empty ocean Alphonse was breathing harder than SHE was, the effort of maintaining his grip taking its toll on him.  
Liora noticed, and suddenly rounded in on herself to scoop him into her arms, burying her teary face against him even as she kept paddling forward.  
Alphonse took a few more breaths before he squeaked, burying his face against her as well.  
"P-please don't say that Liora! If you hadn't come I would have never met you! And I…I have never felt so happy to be with someone in my life…" His words became murmurs as he closed his eyes and nuzzled against her.  
"I feel like… I feel like I was born to be with you, one way or another."  
The girl's tremors subsided at that. Alphonse looked up to see her peering down at him, red again with wonder.  
"...Me too, Alphonse. Me too."

Life with Liora was far superior to that he'd experienced with Raphael. Rather than settling in one place, they spent their days drifting along together, Alphonse clinging to her like her own dear remora. They went where they wanted, they ate what they wanted, and he was never afraid. Their bodies winded together over and over and Alphonse's life was paradise.  
Until...  
They had just finished a fresh round of making love, cuddling together on the sand as the waters above turned rose red with the sun. Liora touched her face softly to Alphonse's chest, belly--and squeaked as something within moved.  
Alphonse's own eyes widened and he gasped.  
He had forgotten.  
It had happened right before he'd met Liora, and being with her had forgotten about each and all his worries. He'd even forgotten all about Raphael. Until now.  
The stupid shark's voice rang in his head, telling him he was…  
"Oh no…oh no oh no oh no!" Unconsciously he began swimming away, as if that way he could swim away from this problem. Liora followed him worriedly.  
"A-Alphonse? What's wrong?" Alphonse paused then, turning to look at her with wide, worried eyes.  
"Liora I…R-Raphael said…I-I thought it was a parasite, but he said I'm... with c-child?"  
Liora's eyes widened slowly into green moons. She stared at Alphonse, then looked slowly to the left, then slowly to the right.  
She tilted her head.  
"But I don't see a child?"  
Alphonse was blushing with shame, covering his face with his hands. "I-It's in there! In my belly!" There was some more agitated squeaking before the blond quieted down. His mind finally made the trek to the only possible conclusion. A moment later Alphonse shrieked.  
"That fucker! He DID this! He did this and kicked me out! I am going to EAT his child!"  
Liora squeaked at that, pulling the boy close into an inescapable embrace.  
"N-No, Alphonse, don't do that! I want--I'd like--"  
She was blushing now herself, spinning in shy circles and sweeping the boy around with her.  
"I would like to... r-raise a baby with you..."  
The boy squeaked back at that, looking as red as a lobster as he peered up at her, face nestled between her soft breasts.  
"Y-you do?! L-Liora...i-if it is with you, t-then I want to too..." He whimpered, leaning forward. She moved forward as well, meeting him for a kiss, the two closing their eyes and rejoicing at their closeness. However, when their lips finally drifted apart Alphonse sighed sadly, sulking.  
"Still, I wish it was your child, not stupid Raphael's..."  
Liora didn't answer. Alphonse's frown intensified as he mulled; it would be bad enough if the ugly little thing looked like Raphael, but what if it ACTED like him, too--  
"Alphonse, how did my brother give you a baby? Can I give you one, too?"  
Alphonse squeaked, again looking red.  
"I-I don't know, I thought only boy fishes could d-do it... but you did the same as him...you put it i-in," he managed, hiding his shameful face against her chest as he wriggled in her hold.  
"If I had known I would have never let him!"  
Liora tugged him closer, enveloping him in the same comforting embrace that protected him while he slept.  
"Don't be sad, Alphonse. If it wasn't for my brother I would never have met you..."  
She nosed at his hair.  
"I'll always be grateful."  
Alphonse sighed, sinking once more into her embrace, arms wrapped around her.  
"I guess you're right, Liora... I guess, maybe, even if it looks like him, I won't hate it as thanks."  
The two nuzzled, then kissed, and in short order they were making love once more, trembling and singing as one and then drifting quietly onto the sand until Liora finally stirred awake and shot upwards, catching dinner for them with her deadly fangs.  
They ate together and kissed again and then snuggled close and fell asleep in each other's embrace, resting without a care in the world other than each other's company.

Time passed like that, the two exploring the sea together, swimming and tiring around one another until…  
"Ugh," Alphonse grunted, coming to a stop and wincing. Hands moved downwards to cradle his disgustingly swollen belly. It was big. Too big! But all the while Liora had reassured him that she loved him and she wanted to raise whatever was inside him with her, and so nothing else mattered to the blond. Until now. The sharp pain in his stomach began ebbing…only to return again, stronger than before, the fish doubling over and crying out louder.  
"Alphonse? --Alphonse!"  
Liora had been before him, her nose locked to some scent in the water, but now a keener and more familiar one drew her home. She looked at him in horror.  
"You're bleeding!"  
Alphonse looked down and--barely resisted the urge to retch as he saw where, exactly, the blood was coming from. Liora swept towards him and scooped him up and continued surging forward all in one motion.  
"Raphael's forest--it isn't too f-far from here, I think--I'll get you there, you'll be ok, he'll stop this--"  
The blond whined, and whether it was in pain or dislike for the prospect of seeing Raphael, wasn't clear. He nudged his way closer to her in her grip, wanting to clutch at her but focusing on clutching his own bloated belly instead. His whole body trembled as another wave of pain rocked his body.  
"J-just… stay with me, please."  
"I will, I will," she spoke to him as if soothing a child, all while she surged forward like the sea itself. They certainly hadn't intended to wander Raphael's way, but Alphonse saw the world around them becoming ever more familiar with increasing distress.  
Of course, that fear was soon to become minor.  
Liora let out a sudden rippling growl Alphonse had never heard before, and he pried his eyes open to see dark silhouettes against the water. Recognition blossomed into terror. It was the shape of SHARKS, massive, the first he had seen large as Liora herself. And they were looking at him, and they were smelling his blood, and they were hungry.  
Liora clutched him tighter and thrashed forward as the others began to move in.  
The boy cried out in fear at that, clinging all the more tightly to her, his pain almost entirely forgotten by the sudden chilling feeling of the hungry eyes of so many predators on him. And there was nothing he could do. And he knew it. He hadn't been this afraid since Raphael had first found him--no, he hadn't been this afraid then, because he had accepted death. But now...now he had so much to live for, and all his reasons were holding onto him right now, fighting to push past the danger.  
Did sharks eat other sharks as well? Oh gods please no. He tucked his head under Liora's chin and whimpered.  
"T-the caves, we need to find them!"  
Liora answered without responding, churning water like a ship at sail. But Alphonse's weight, while meager, made all the difference when their pursuers were her match.  
The other sharks drew closer foot by foot, swallowing up the distance between them, teeth stretched into grins. And then they called.  
"Liora! You gotta share!"  
"Gone all this time and now won't even say hi?"  
"Don't be greedy!"  
Liora whimpered. One shark at the head of the group, dark haired and red eyed, surged forward close enough to almost touch her side--was met with a vicious strike of her tail and a snarl, the other fish dropping behind with a yelp.  
But the others were still gaining.  
Alphonse stared up at her with wide eyes. It made sense. Liora hadn't been going to visit her brother. She was circling his home in search of the prey he released, and so were the other sharks. So he had been more right than he'd thought. In the end it didn't matter how much Raphael tried to save anyone, they all wound up dead, sooner rather than later. He had almost shared that destiny in Liora's jaws.  
It didn't matter, none of it did. He pressed closer to her to keep himself from slowing her down.  
Liora had to eat to survive, and yet, even then, she had chosen him amongst the many she had and would kill. He closed his eyes and hoped they reached the cave in time.  
The kelp mess that had been an oily smudge on the horizon had blossomed into shape, now, every tendril in stark relief. Safety, maybe, a place to hide--but as close as they were, they were still too far away.  
Liora bellowed as another shark whipped along her side, followed in short order by a third, famished eyes on Alphonse. One lunged, double fangs extruding--  
Blood in the water--  
The shark roared in pain as a smaller fish sank teeth and claw into its gills, relenting only to turn fangs on the next in line. Alphonse's eyes went round as he recognized Raphael, a dwarf fighting giants.  
"Go! Get to the tunnel!"  
He roared it and rammed into the next shark's gills, squawks of pain and confusion echoing out as the water began to cloud with red. Liora didn't need to be told. She rammed forward, into the cloaking seaweed at last, on and on like a tempest until she slammed into Raphael's sheltering tunnel and turned herself around to wedge herself, teeth gaping, in the entryway.

Alphonse whimpered as he drifted down into the sand, Liora releasing him into the safety of the cave. He looked up, but he could see nothing but Liora. Now that he was in safety, his fear beginning to dwindle, the pain began to catch up to him once more.  
Fingers curled into the sand and he gritted his teeth.  
"W-where... where's Raphael? Is he coming?"  
"I don't know."  
A whisper. Her nostrils were flared, the smell of blood overwhelming, before and behind. She couldn't detect her brother's individual scent through the muck. And if she could? That would mean...  
Liora stiffened, roared--then went limp with relief as the shape before her became familiar, making way for her brother. He was scraped all over with tooth marks, eyes glassy, but he went straight to Alphonse. Liora twisted around to watch.  
"He's--"  
"I know."  
Raphael set a hand on the boy's heaving side, then slid over him and into an adjoining tunnel. He returned with his hands full of shredded blue leaf.  
"Eat this, Alphonse. It'll help."  
Alphonse looked up at him, his gills flaring with every breath he took.  
He'd always thought if he saw Raphael again, the first thing he would do was to smack him in the face while he screeched at him that this was all his fault. Instead his eyes slid down to the offered leaves before he took them with a shaky hand and shoved all of them into his mouth without a second thought.  
He still wanted to do that, but should he? If he told the shark that the thing inside him was all his doing, wouldn't he want to keep it? And he couldn't keep it, not when Liora had said she wanted to keep it herself. So instead he found himself chewing silently on the bitter herbs inside his mouth, letting out a bitter grumble that turned into a cry of pain as his body began aching once more.  
"Breathe, Alphonse, breathe..."  
Liora had twisted around in the entryway to watch. Alphonse wanted to bite the stupid man--of course he was breathing, dolt!--but the pain refocused his attention, the boy crying out, back arching as Raphael reached forward to the bloody opening that was the source of all his trouble.  
Then there was a great heaving feeling, Alphonse clutching at the ground, straining--  
A soft cry and a feeling of relief. The pain receded, and Alphonse looked down, breathing hard. He stared.  
It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever… the most beautiful thing other than Liora he'd ever seen. A tiny little thing with pale shimmered skin and still soft spines, curled in on itself in a blaze of gold and silver. The hair that fanned off the small head was moon white.  
"A girl," Raphael said, slumping in relief. Liora let out a cry of joy. And the baby—the baby abruptly uncurled itself and took its first few wriggled upwards, hissing and fanning immature tendrils. She hissed more as Liora scooped her suddenly up, but went contently quiet as she found herself cradled between mother and father.  
"She's so beautiful! Look at her, Alphonse!"  
Alphonse stared, transfixed on the little thing with wide eyes. The girl was just like a tiny Liora, except she was also just like him. Already he could see sharp triple rows of teeth crowning her tiny mouth while spines that would one day hold poison laid limp against her body, as if they were just adorning frills. He reached out with trembling fingers, gently stroking his child as if she would break if he put any strength in his movements.  
"S-she's…she's…augh!" A sudden jolt of pain, Alphonse recoiling from all of them, once more curling up and gasping for breath as he sank fingers into the sand.  
"I-it hurts… it still h-hurts just as bad," He croaked as Liora let out a nervous cry. Raphael looked anxiously over him. What was going on? The child had been born without an issue, so then why…He reached out towards Alphonse's belly, pressing down…and feeling a twitch back, eyes widening.  
"It's alright Alphonse, it'll be alright, just a bit more." Same as before, there was a sudden build up of pressure and pain, until all of a sudden it vanished, Alphonse gasping weakly and laying against the sand. He opened up his eyes and saw—another?!  
A tiny thing, tinier even than the first one, curled in upon itself. It was covered in pale skin as well, but the hair had a pale golden sheen, more like his own than Liora's, and its tail and fins were more prominently marked like his own. It remained curled up and trembling where it lay, drifting gently through the water. Alphonse looked at it with horror in his eyes.  
"M-more?! Please tell me there are no more!"  
"I think he's the last one."  
Raphael picked up the new child before Liora could, cupping him close and gently stroking the soft hair. There was a moment of silence.  
"Alphonse, I—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have chased you away. But I'll work to fix that mistake—I'll protect you, and our children—"  
"OUR children," Liora corrected, and Raphael looked up to scowl at her.  
"Liora, these children are—"  
"Mine!"  
"No, I'm the one who—"  
"I put it in, too! I gave them to him! They're mine!"  
"No, they're not!"  
"Yes, they ARE!"  
Liora snarled at this—stopping quickly as the second born child burst into noisy wails.  
Alphonse, meanwhile, lay on the sand panting. He had visibly relaxed upon finding out that no more children would be popping out of him, closing his eyes and laying still with a hand draped over his now much flatter stomach. He groaned as the bickering and then crying rose around him, turning onto his side towards Liora and curling up.  
"Can't he just keep that one, Liora? it's not pretty like you anyways."  
"No, absolutely not!"  
Liora was getting more agitated by the second and Alphonse looked mostly dead and the smaller infant was crying and—  
"It doesn't matter now anyway! You can both stay here, until the children are stronger, so there's no sense in fighting over it right now."  
Raphael finished this proclamation by turning his attention to the fussing child, nuzzling and rocking until he quieted down.  
Liora did NOT feel like the discussion was over, but as Raphael said—this wasn't the time. Thus she settled down quietly beside her mate, hissing only a little, cradling him and their child close.  
Alphonse nestled happily beside her, burying his face against her soft chest and closing his eyes as he let out a pleased murmur. Eventually Raphael nestled down on his other side, wanting the child to be closer to his…uh…mother?  
Liora hissed quietly at this but otherwise didn't move, and Alphonse seemed fine with the arrangement, tucked close against the warmth of two overprotective sharks, hidden away from danger in Raphael's cave. He let out a happy sigh and drifted off to sleep.   
For now, life was quite alright.  
And, by the looks of it, the future would be too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> STILL probably the weirdest thing I have ever written, haha. Hope ya'll enjoyed it! Please leave a comment if you liked--they inspire me to keep writing!


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